第5章　如何減少生意上50%的憂慮

如果你是一個商人，也許你現在正在對自己說：“這章標題實在荒謬，我干這一行已經19年了；如果有誰知道這個答案，當然非我莫屬。居然有人想告訴我如何減少生意上50%的憂慮，實在荒謬。”

太對了！如果我在幾年前看到這章的標題，也會有同樣的感覺。它好像能幫你大忙，但這種空話根本不值錢。

讓我們開誠布公吧：也許我不能幫你減少生意上50%的憂慮，因為從我前面的分析來看，除了你自己之外沒有人能做到這一點。但我能做到讓你看看別人是如何做的，剩下的全看你自己了。

你也許還記得我引用過聞名世界的亞歷西斯·卡瑞爾醫生的話：“不知道克服憂慮的商人，會短命而亡。”既然憂慮這么嚴重，那么如果我能幫你消除哪怕10%的憂慮，你是否會滿意呢？會的？很好，我下面就要告訴你一位商人是如何消除憂慮，而且節約了以前用來開會、解決生意問題的70%的時間的。

當然，我不會告訴你那些無法查證的故事。這個故事的主人公是活生生的李昂·希姆金。他是紐約州紐約市洛克菲勒中心著名的西蒙舒斯特出版公司前合伙人兼總經理。

York 20, New York.

Here is Leon Shimkin's experience in his own words:

“For fifteen years I spent almost half of every business day holding conferences, discussing problems.

“Should we do this or that—do nothing at all? We would get tense; twist in our chairs; walk the floor; argue and go around in circles. When night came, I would be utterly exhausted. I fully expected to go on doing this sort of thing for the rest of my life. I had been doing it for fifteen years, and it never occurred to me that there was a better way of doing it. If anyone had told me that I could eliminate three-fourths of all the time I spent in those worried conferences, and three-fourths of my nervous strain—I would have thought he was a wild-eyed, slap-happy, armchair optimist. Yet I devised a plan that did just that. I have been using this plan for eight years. It has performed wonders for my efficiency, my health, and my happiness.

“It sounds like magic—but like all magic tricks, it is extremely simple when you see how it is done.

“Here is the secret: First, I immediately stopped the procedure I had been using in my conferences for fifteen years—a procedure that began with my troubled associates reciting all the details of what had gone wrong, and ending up by asking:‘What shall we do?’Second, I made a new rule—a rule that everyone who wishes to present a problem to me must first prepare and submit a memorandum answering these four questions:

“Question 1：What is the problem?

（“In the old days we used to spend an hour or two in a worried conference without anyone's knowing specifically and concretely what the real problem was. We used to

下面就是李昂·希姆金自己講述的經歷：

“15年來，我每天幾乎用一半的時間開會和討論問題。

“我們應該這樣還是那樣？或什么都不管？我們這時會很緊張，坐立不安，或在辦公室走來走去，不停地爭論繞圈子。到了晚上，我筋疲力盡。我原以為我這輩子大概只能這樣了。我干這一行已經有15年，從未想過會有更好的辦法。如果有人告訴我可以減去3/4令人憂慮的會議時間，可以消除3/4的神經緊張，我會認為他是一個盲目的樂觀主義者。可是，我現在確實能夠擬出一個恰好能做到這一點的計劃。這個方法我已經用了8年，對提高效率、健康和快樂都有奇效。

“這像是魔術——可是正如所有的魔術一樣，只要你弄清楚是怎么做的，就非常簡單了。

“下面就是秘訣：第一，我立即停止了15年來我們會議采取的程序。以往，我的同事先會報告一遍問題的細節，最后會問‘我們該怎么辦？’第二，我訂下一條新規矩——任何人想要問我問題，必須先準備好一份書面報告，回答以下四個問題：

“一是，究竟出了什么問題？（以前我們這種會通常要開一兩個小時，可是大家還不清楚真正的問題在哪里。我們總是討論我們的問題，卻不愿提前明確地寫出我們的問題是什么。）

“二是，問題的起因是什么？（我回顧了一下，竟然驚奇地發現，我雖然在這

work ourselves into a lather discussing our troubles without ever troubling to write out specifically what our problem was.）

“Question 2：What is the cause of the problem?

（“As I look back over my career, I am appalled at the wasted hours I have spent in worried conferences without ever trying to find out clearly the conditions which lay at the root of the problem.）

“Question 3：What are all possible solutions of the problem?

（“In the old days, one man in the conference would suggest one solution. Someone else would argue with him.Tempers would flare. We would often get clear off the subject, and at the end of the conference no one would have written down all the various things we could do to attack the problem.）

“Question 4：What solution do you suggest?

（“I used to go into a conference with a man who had spent hours worrying about a situation and going around in circles without ever once thinking through all possible solutions and then writing down:‘This is the solution I recommend.'）

“My associates rarely come to me now with their problems. Why? Because they have discovered that in order to answer these four questions they have to get all the facts and think their problems through. And after they have done that they find, in three-fourths of the cases, they don't have to consult me at all because the proper solution has popped out like a piece of bread popping out from an electric toaster. Even in those cases where consultation is necessary, the discussion takes about one-third the time formerly required, because it proceeds along an orderly, logical path to a reasoned conclusion.

“Much less time is now consumed in the house of Simon and Schuster in worrying and talking about what is wrong; and a lot more action is obtained toward making those things

種會上浪費了很多時間，卻沒有清楚地找出問題的根源。）

“三是，這個問題可能有哪些解決方法？（以前，只要有一個人提出一種解決方法，就會有另外一個人跟他辯論，大家也都爭論起來，常常扯到題外去，而開完會時還沒有找到解決問題的方法。）

“四是，你建議用哪一種辦法？（以前和我一起開會的人，往往為一種情況擔心幾小時，并且不斷地繞圈子，卻從沒有想過什么可行的解決方法，然后寫下來：‘這是我建議的解決方案。’）

“現在，他們很少把他們的問題拿來找我了。為什么呢？因為他們發現要回答上面的四個問題，就必須搜集所有的事實，仔細考慮一遍。當他們做了這些之后，他們會發現3/4的問題都不必再來找我商量，因為最合理的解決方案會不斷地涌現。即使是那些必須跟我討論的問題，所花的時間也不過是以前的1/3，因為討論時有條不紊，最后都能得到明智的結論。

“現在，在我們公司不再花那么多時間去擔心、討論出了什么問題，而是以更多的行動來解決問題。”

我朋友弗蘭克·貝特格是美國的保險業巨頭之一。他曾告訴我，他不僅減少了生意上的憂慮，而且收入幾乎增加了一倍，他用的也是類似的方法。

“很多年以前，”弗蘭克·貝特格說，“我剛開始推銷保險，對自己的工作

right.”

My friend, Frank Bettger, one of the top insurance men in America, told me he not only reduced his business worries, but nearly doubled his income, by a similar method.

“Years ago,” said Frank Bettger, “when I first started to sell insurance, I was filled with a boundless enthusiasm and love for my work. Then something happened. I became so discouraged that I despised my work and thought of giving it up. I think I would have quit—if I hadn't got the idea, one Saturday morning, of sitting down and trying to get at the root of my worries.

“1. I asked myself first:‘Just what is the problem?'The problem was: that I was not getting high enough returns for the staggering amount of calls I was making. I seemed to do pretty well at selling a prospect, until the moment came for closing a sale. Then the customer would say:‘Well, I'll think it over, Mr.Bettger.Come and see me again.'It was the time I wasted on these follow-up calls that was causing my depression.

“2. I asked myself:‘What are the possible solutions?'But to get the answer to that one, I had to study the facts. I got out my record book for the last twelve months and studied the figures.

“I made an astounding discovery! Right there in black and white, I discovered that seventy per cent of my sales had been closed on the very first interview! Twenty-three per cent of my sales had been closed on the second interview! And only seven per cent of my sales had been closed on those third, fourth, fifth, etc., interviews, which were running me ragged and taking up my time. In other words, I was wasting fully one half of my working day on a part of my business which was responsible for only seven per cent of my sales!

“3.‘What is the answer?'The answer was obvious. I immediately cut out all visits beyond the second interview, and spent the extra time building up new prospects. The

充滿了熱情和喜愛。但后來發生了一件事使我很沮喪，讓我看不起我的工作，甚至想到過放棄。我幾乎都要辭職了，要不是我突然想起了一件事。在一個星期六的早晨，我坐下來，想找出憂慮的根源。

“第一，我問自己：‘問題到底出在哪里？’我的問題是：我拜訪過那么多人，可是業績并不理想。直到成交之前，我跟那些希望很大的顧客談得很好。然后顧客會說：‘啊！我想再考慮考慮，貝特格先生。什么時候再說吧。’于是我又得再次拜訪，這樣就浪費掉不少時間，使我覺得很沮喪。

“第二，我問自己：‘有什么解決辦法？’可是要找出問題的答案，就得研究事實。我拿出過去12個月的記錄本，研究上面的數據。

“結果，我有了一個驚人的發現！我所賣的保險有70%是在第一次拜訪時成交的，23%是在第二次拜訪時成交的！只有7%是在第三、第四甚至第五次才成交的。這讓我覺得很難過，因為它很浪費時間。換句話說，我的工作時間幾乎有一半浪費在實際上只有7%的業務上。

“第三，‘問題的答案是什么？’答案很明顯，我立刻停止了第二次以后的所有拜訪，多出來的時間用來尋找新的顧客。結果令人難以相信：在很短的時間內，我就把每一次的拜訪業績提高了近一倍。”

弗蘭克·貝特格是美國最著名的人壽保險推銷員之一，每年推銷的保險都在

results were unbelievable. In a very short time, I had almost doubled the cash value of every visit I made from a call!”

As I said, Frank Bettger became one of the best-known life-insurance salesmen in America. He is with Fidelity Mutual of Philadelphia, and writes a million dollars worth of policies a year. But he was on the point of giving up. He was on the point of admitting failure—until analyzing the problem gave him a boost on the road to success.

Can you apply these questions to your business problems? To repeat my challenge—they can reduce your worries by fifty per cent.Here they are again:

1. What is the problem?

2. What is the CAUSE of the problem?

3. What are all possible solutions to the problem?

4. What solution do you suggest?

100萬美元以上。可是他曾經想要放棄，幾乎就要承認自己的失敗——分析問題使他走上了成功之路。

你是否也能把這些問題應用到你的業務上呢？重復一下我的挑戰——它們能減少你一半的憂慮。

第一，問題是什么？

第二，問題的起因是什么？

第三，解決問題的可能的方法有哪些？

第四，你建議用哪一種解決方法？